


You Are Everything

by Mintstream



Series: The Amazing Spider-Woman [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Awesome Michelle Jones, Bisexual Peter Parker, F/F, Female Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Protective Michelle Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27009064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream
Summary: Penny had never been normal, but she'd always been okay with that because no one really was, but she'd definitely been a little outside the box. Doing algebra before she was six and putting together relatively simple chemistry equations, which, to be fair, were complicated to a six year old. It was a weird thing to handle growing up, but it had been her normal. And now, well, she wasn't normal now either. Being bitten by a radioactive spider did that to people, but she liked her new normal.New York, it seemed, not so much.AKA Penny deals with the debate on Mutant Rights and MJ is there to help.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: The Amazing Spider-Woman [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899001
Comments: 10
Kudos: 120





	1. Mutants in the Streets

**Author's Note:**

> not whumptober, just been sitting on this one for a bit and thought i'd finally share!

Penny had never been  _ normal,  _ but she'd always been okay with that because no one really was, but she'd definitely been a little outside the box. Doing algebra before she was six and putting together relatively simple chemistry equations, which, to be fair, were complicated to a six year old. But she hadn't just been smart, she'd been an orphan, living with people who weren't her parents but who were as good as. People used to, and still did sometimes, tell her how cool that was, or how sorry they were, but in a tone that meant they thought it was interesting and dramatic and like she had a cool backstory.

It was a weird thing to handle growing up, but it had been her normal.

And now, well, she wasn't normal now either. Being bitten by a radioactive spider did that to people, but she liked her new normal. Her new normal of swinging high above the city, stopping crime and helping people. Her new normal of Friday lab days and her actual internship with Mr. Stark, of training and working with him, and even having watched a movie with him one time when she'd had to stay the night thanks to an injury. And okay, maybe it wasn't  _ normal,  _ or even her normal--it was still super surreal to her--but she loved it and she wouldn't trade anything for it.

Sometimes, though, she didn't love it. Not hanging out with Mr. Stark, that was always super cool, more the being different because of a stray radioactive spider thing.

It had definitely freaked her out at first, but the fact that she had abs and could finally see without her glasses that were thicker than bullet-proof glass had been way too cool for her to really care that much. She loved having powers, she loved being Spider-Woman, but it still had its downsides. In true teenager fashion, she didn't really pay attention to the news that much, so the teen hadn't really thought about it until one day in class.

It had been in Political Science on Friday when they'd been talking about the Accords and how they'd sparked more mutant registration laws that were popping up country by country and state by state. The laws had yet to reach New York, though politicians were debating on it, which was what they'd been discussing.

It was her fifth out of total six periods of the day, so Penny slumped down in her seat next to Ned and dropped her bag on the ground with just a hint of drama. She was exhausted, what with staying up late patrolling last night and healing from where a knife had gone into her leg. It hadn't been life threatening so she'd managed to convince Karen not to call Mr. Stark, but it still took a lot out of her to heal like that. There was barely a scratch on her leg right now.

"Today," Mr. Roberts started, pointing to the screen that had today's lesson plan in bold letters, "We will be going over the Mutant Registration Act that was passed in Ohio two days ago. We'll also be setting up a small debate about it for the school's annual  _ Debateathon!"  _ He did the last part with a flourish, as though it were exciting, "So, who knows what the Act means?"

A girl in front of her, Amanda, raised her hand and he pointed at her, "They require any mutant or whatever to register with the government their powers and to be tracked at all times if they think they're like, dangerous. They also make it so that, like, the police don't need a warrant to go to their house."

"Excellent, Ms. Jenkins. And what do you think about them?"

"That they keep everyone else safe," Amanda answered. Penny furrowed her brows at that. Safe? Safe from what? Sure, Penny was strong, but she wasn't more dangerous than somebody with a gun. And besides, it wasn't like she was going to go crazy and start killing everybody.

"I disagree," MJ shot up. Heads turned from Amanda to the other girl across the room, who was really only known for talking in this class, "It's restrictive and puts the lives of people in danger when they're not afforded  _ basic rights." _

"What people? The  _ mutants?"  _ One boy clarified, surprise in his voice and face drawn in confusion, and she wasn't quite sure why, but that hurt. It was as though he didn't think mutants were people. That  _ she  _ was human.

"The people," MJ said forcefully.

"But they're not just people," Amanda protested, "They're different and they're dangerous. Who knows what they think about normal people, if they don't like that we have powers. The Act is just protecting us."

Penny flinched at 'dangerous,' and cringed at 'normal people.' She...she was normal. Well, not really, but she was human, but she guessed Amanda was kinda right. She  _ was  _ dangerous, she could stop a bus with her bare hands, could probably fight everyone in school without as much as breaking a sweat. But she didn't like the idea of police just coming to her apartment whenever they felt like it.

"No, they're bigoted," Michelle shot back, and heads turned, swiveling to watch the back and forth, "Which, by the way, mutant is the wrong term, since not every powered person is a 'mutant,' so that in and of itself is problem number one. Next, they're people. People,  _ all people,  _ can be dangerous. Iron Man's dangerous as hell--but it wouldn't apply to him because he gets to take his powers off, not everyone gets the pleasure of doing that!--but back on topic. Powered people aren't more likely to murder or commit crimes, most are literal superheros, so your bigoted ass always takes every  _ little  _ opportunity to--

"Ms. Jones!" Mr. Roberts interrupted, "Swearing is not allowed, and neither is targeting another student for their opinion. Apologize."

"Is she going to apologize for dehumanizing a group of vulnerable people?" MJ deadpanned, and Amanda looked aghast. Wide eyes watched every interaction, Penny's own being the widest, her grip on the table white.

"They're not vulnerable! They're barely even  _ people!" _

There were a few hums of discontent or the shaking of heads at that statement, but some people nodded in agreement, all of them looking at each other in appraisal for their shared beliefs.

MJ whirled on the girl, "You sound like some bigoted bitch that flies the Confederate Flag from their truck you--"

"Jones, stop talking now!" Mr. Roberts practically roared, looking flustered at how chaotic his class had become. And well, she felt flustered herself, but he was the one who decided to teach politics, she hadn't signed up for the class, "Detention."

"Oh yeah, let me just go sit and listen to a  _ powered person  _ after defending the human rights of  _ powered people,"  _ her decathlon team captain drawled, and there were a few snorts from across the room.

"It is clear to me you have a lot of feelings about this, Ms. Jones," Mr. Roberts started, blatantly ignoring the girl's 'obviously,' "So, as well as detention, you will be a part of the Debateathon this year about the Mutant Registration Act."

"Great."

"You'll be defending the act." Mr. Roberts smiled at that, as though he'd won something, and maybe he had. MJ usually kept her face pretty expressionless, but she looked aghast at this, her eye twitching angrily.

"But--"

"Failure to comply will result in suspension, Ms. Jones, now head on down to detention."

Muttering angrily, the teen did, the class watching her unabashedly the whole time, Penny with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Suddenly the greasy school lunch felt like it might not stay down. She was touched by MJ defending her, even if her sorta-friend-maybe-her-super-intense-crush didn't know it, only Ned knew she was Spider-Woman after all. But she was also...disheartened? Sad? Anxious? Anxious felt right.

It hadn't been a majority of the class, really only five or six students, but it still shook her knowing that they thought that she was, well,  _ dangerous.  _ Less than human, unwilling of respect because of a freak accident that she'd had no control over. Not that she'd get rid of her powers if given the chance, but still, it stung, and honestly, she didn't feel safe at the moment, which felt dumb to her. She was stronger than everyone in this room combined, they were no match for her, but maybe that meant that Amanda was right, and that was the scariest part.

School ended rather sullenly for her, which was annoying since it had been a good day to start with, but wasn't that how it always went? Good days turned into bad and bad days stayed bad. She tried to find MJ, but the girl was nowhere to be found, probably still in detention or on her way home, there was no decathlon today after all. Maybe Penny would catch her at practice on Monday.

She spotted Happy's car and began walking towards it, waving Ned goodbye as he walked the opposite way. Happy, as usual, was in the car with a grumpy air about him as he impatiently waited on her. If not for their small heart to heart after she'd saved Mr. Stark's plane, she'd assume he hated her, but Mr. Stark had assured her that he just thrived off of negativity.

"Hey, Happy," she greeted, her voice a little more sullen than usual, and she made a note to put a little more pep into it. She opened the door, throwing her bag in and about to crawl in after when she looked up and saw Michelle. She was about a block away and clearly walking home, "Um, sorry, I'll be right back."

"What? Where are you--"

Penny sped after Michelle, her enhanced speed helping her get there in no time at all, and for the first time since she'd gotten bit by that spider, she felt...shameful about it, like she'd done something wrong. She shook off her feelings as she caught up with MJ, that was something to think about later. Or never. Never sounded good.

"Penny?" MJ asked once she'd caught up to her, turning just before Penny could put a hand on her shoulder and watching her with a raised eyebrow. It occurred to her suddenly that she hadn't had a single clue of what she was going to say, she'd just wanted to talk.

"I-uh-ah--I wanted--I thought it was, um, really cool, how you, ah, stood up to Amanda like that." Dear Lord she was going to die of embarrassment. She was sure her cheeks were as red as cherries, "I mean--the things she was saying--it was, um..."

"Pretty fucked up," MJ finished for her, and Penny gave her the barest of smiles.

"Yeah, it was."

"I mean, imagine if there was a powered person in the school! Or even that room! I would feel like shit if someone said something like that. I  _ have  _ felt like shit when people say stuff like that, but they usually cover it up more than what Amanda just did."

"It was, uh, pretty--pretty crazy that she said stuff like that," Penny rushed to agree after leaving a short silence that felt like years at MJ saying if there had been a mutant or whatever in the classroom. It wasn't even just  _ what  _ she'd said when she'd said it. MJ always had a knowing look about her but this was more so than usual... "Um, anyway, I should probably get going. I have to get some, ah, groceries for May, and then I have the y'know, internship or whatever, so, uh, bye!"

And that was how she practically ran away from her crush, face red and her stomach tied in a knot. But the butterfly feelings couldn't completely mask the heavy stone that had settled in her stomach.

* * *

The weekend...could've gone better if she was being honest. To be fair, with her pretty awful Friday, it had been off to a bad start anyway, so she didn't know why she'd expected it to get better.

First, Mr. Stark had realized that something was wrong during their lab time. He'd asked about it a few times, stating that she hadn't talked as much as she usually did or that she'd just seemed down, but she'd just said that she was fine with a smile and had made herself act extra chipper the rest of the night in response. She hadn't missed the worry in his eyes though. But why worry about her? She was dangerous after all.

Falling asleep that night had been harder than usual. Every time she drifted into a pleasant dream it was interrupted by Amanda, her face angry and fearful as her words played on repeat in her mind, making her gut twist and her head swim.

_They're barely even_ _people! They're barely even people! They're barely even people!_

By the time the sun had cast her room in a pale glow she'd gotten almost no sleep.  _ Maybe  _ two hours. She was sure that there were bags already forming under her eyes. Time to break out the concealer she guessed.

Penny dragged herself out of bed, grateful that May had an early morning shift and thus wouldn't see her zombie-like state as she made herself breakfast and then slipped on her suit, feeling robotic. A robot zombie. A zombie robot. Were they the same or were they different? She made a mental note to text Ned about it later.

All in all, she had a pretty productive Saturday, stopping plenty of bicycle thieves and ATM robbers, and even calling Ned to ask him her very important robot-zombie-zombie-robot question, which they argued about for nearly an hour. May called her sometime around two o'clock, reminding the teen to eat some lunch. Technically she'd already had a snack (a huge soft pretzel awarded to her by a man after she'd stopped a car from crashing into his cart), but she still went home and had some lunch.

After she'd eaten she went back out again, ready to take on the world. At least, she thought she was.

It started after she'd saved a man from getting robbed. Usually after stopping someone from getting robbed she usually got a string of thank you's, maybe some wide eyes and confusion at what had happened. It also wasn't uncommon for a man to say something that made her uncomfortable, but this was different.

"Sir, are you o--"

"Get away from me!" the man practically screamed, and she backed away in confusion, holding her hands out placatingly. She'd never had this reaction from a robbery before, "Don't fucking touch me you mutant!"

_ What!? _

"Sir, I'm just trying to help you--"

"You hit him!"

"I didn't even touch him!" she protested, her voice climbing, "I just webbed him to the wall and he was--"

"Just don't touch me!" And with that, he ran off. Penny wasn't Spider-Woman for fame or gratitude, but she couldn't deny that that hurt her somewhere in her core.

* * *

The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur of patrol, homework, and having a hard time falling asleep. As well as spending an inconceivable amount of time worrying about her powers and doing research on how much damage powered people caused. There were some reports of Jessica Jones and Daredevil, plenty of things about the Avengers and how much damage they'd caused. But that was superhero work, damage came with the title, not with the powers.

She ended up on a bunch of sketchy sites showing videos of powered people lashing out, with people talking in the forums about what had happened, though she also took time to read the actual Registration Act that had been passed in Ohio. She didn't like it very much, and it definitely hadn't made her feel any better.

Maybe New York  _ should  _ have a registration, not that she wanted one, but logically, she got what Amanda had been saying. She was dangerous. She had power and not everybody else did. What if she were a different kind of person? A person who hurt instead of helped. Or what if she couldn't control her powers and hurt somebody?  _ Killed  _ somebody.

But what about the little kids who had powers? The unsuspecting teens? The people who were just trying to lead normal lives? They didn't deserve to have trackers, to never be given a moment of peace, to have to identify themselves at every turn. She thought briefly of how that could ruin lives, having to constantly, legally, out yourself like that.

Penny slumped back in her chair as she glared at her computer screen. She just didn't know what to do. What to think.

She managed to get a relatively full night of sleep, though it was restless, so at least she'd slept before she had to go to school. She counted that as a win.

Her alarm woke her up, and in no time at all she was dressed and fed and on her way to school. She plugged her earbuds in and didn't take them out until she got to her locker, reluctantly putting away her defense against the overly loud chatter and rustle of the other kids. She and Ned met up in first period, but she didn't see MJ for a bit. The girl wasn't in lunch either, and she assumed that her crush might still be in detention, and she felt guilty. Sure, MJ technically hadn't been defending her, but at the same time she had been, and Penny was incredibly grateful for her words, even if she wasn't sure they were 100% true.

Finally, near the end of the day, came the class she'd been dreading. Political Science. They usually didn't stay on a topic for more than a day or two, but last weekend had been more heated than usual, even for MJ, and since it was a subject for the Debateathon. She was right. When she walked into class the subject on the board headlined last night's news. Or this morning's.

**'New York Opposes the Mutant Registration Act!'**

Under it was a list titled 'Pros and Cons', clearly for the act not being passed and waiting to be filled out by the students filing into the classroom.

Mr. Roberts waited a few minutes after the bell rang to allow students to fill out their own pros and cons list before presenting it to the class. Penny chewed on the end of her pen as she stared at her paper, overthinking it maybe a little too much, but filling it out anyway.

"Dude," Ned whispered, leaning over to look at her notebook, "Why do you have like, no pros? And why so many cons?"

"'Cause, I mean, I get what Amanda was saying. I'm not saying I like it, but if I--I mean, I guess I'd be pretty scared of...of mutants."

Ned looked at her, aghast, as though he couldn't believe what she was saying, which she didn't understand. She was so much stronger than him, could kill him in an instant without even trying. Could kill him on  _ accident.  _ Why wouldn't he want her to be tracked and registered. She was dangerous and that made everyone in the classroom unsafe. The thought felt heavy in her mind and restrictive on her throat.

"Alright, to get started today, who wants to read off their list?" Mr. Roberts started, and Penny looked down purposefully, trying to avoid his gaze. Being called on was the worst, no matter what class. Thankfully, he pointed at a different student who never spoke in his class, who stuttered out their answer in a long drawling sentence. She noticed he also had more cons than pros.

In fact, as they went around the room, most kids did, or had a relatively even amount. Out of the nineteen kids in the class, including herself, only seven had more pros. Ned, for some reason, had more pros, which she didn't quite understand. He knew how strong she was, just how able she was to hurt and maim and--and  _ kill,  _ even if she didn't want to.

Class felt like it lasted the entire week, and when she finally left the knot in her stomach was even tighter than before. She felt nervous, about what exactly was hard to discern. Maybe it was knowing how dangerous she was, but when she thought about it, that didn't feel like the answer. Maybe...maybe it was knowing just how much people didn't trust her as a human being, which felt more right, but she wasn't 100% sure.

She managed to make it through her last class of the day and then decathlon, where she finally saw MJ. She had a permanently annoyed face now, especially as she looked over notes that she didn't think were decathlon. Either a reflection or the argument she had to do for debate, though Penny wasn't sure which.

Decathlon was  _ fine,  _ nothing out of the ordinary. She answered questions quickly, learned a couple new things, and left with her new flashcards to review before practice again on Wednesday. She did catch Michelle staring at her a couple of times though, which always made her blush a bright red and look away every time as MJ did the same. It made her feel a little better. Not really less anxious, but more light, in a way.

Penny put her earbuds in as she started walking home, trying to drown out the overwhelming sounds of the city with blasting music. May had a late shift tonight, so the two were going to hang out and watch movies before her aunt had to go to work and Penny would patrol after. She had made it about halfway to her apartment when a flyer was shoved in front of her face.

She stumbled back immediately, raising her fists slightly only to realize that she wasn't being attacked. The woman in front of her was not threatening in the slightest, short and stumpy and graying slightly she continued to wave to flyer in front of her face, though she couldn't make out what it said. Behind the woman was a throng of people, all holding signs and pamphlets, a small stand providing water bottles and even more stacks of the flyers.

"Have you heard anything about the new Mutant Registration Act?" the woman who had shoved the flyers into their hands asked, and Penny felt herself freeze a little under her trapping gaze.

"Um, yes?" Penny answered hesitantly, glancing around at all the people, but panic seemed to be overtaking her. Even the large, clear signs were hard to read.

"Have you heard the most recent news?"

"Ah, um, I'm--I don't know."

"Well, as of this afternoon, New York has shot down the act, effectively keeping us under the control of the threat of mutants. Those pamphlets there entail how we're organizing and what we're doing--"

"Oh, uh, that's alright. I'm really busy with school and--"

"Too busy to clear the streets? To secure your future?" the woman bit back, "Just take the pamphlet and think about it. Sign petitions, you don't have to do everything, just try."

"I, ah, thank you," Penny forced out, shoving the flyer into her backpack and zipping it back up, her hands fumbling in panic, "Um, I'll--I'll look into it."

She practically darted after she choked out her last words, weaving through the chanting crowd  _ ("Get those mutants off the streets! Get those mutants off the streets!")  _ until she managed to come out on the other end of the sidewalk and hurry the rest of the way to her apartment. In school had been enough, but seeing a huge crowd of people like that, protesting her existence... She knew she wasn't the only person in America to experience something like this, and the thought made her run faster as she practically sprinted to her apartment.

She practically slammed the door behind her when she entered her apartment, the wall shaking behind her with her strength, making her flinch. Dangerous. She was dangerous and too powerful and was going to end up hurting someone or  _ worse-- _

"Penny?" came May's voice, and Penny glanced up to see her aunt approaching her, looking concerned and worried, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I, uh..." She couldn't make words come, and that seemed to alarm May more than anything she could have said.

"Is someone chasing you? Are you in trouble? Do I need to call Tony?"

That managed to snap her out of her stupor, "No, May! I--I'm fine, you don't need to call Mr. Stark. No one's--no one's chasing me."

"So why do you look like you're being chased?"

"I'm--I'm not. I don't!" she tried to protest, but the words kept getting stuck in her throat, and May realized. She always did. She knew Penny better than she knew herself. But her aunt didn't push, just led her away from the door and into the apartment, allowing her to sit down and lean into May's stomach as she rubbed her back.

"What's going on Penny?" the woman asked, "You've been acting weird all weekend, and now this? Penny--I can't help if I don't know."

She opened her mouth to say something--anything--but all that came out was a choked sob. And then she was crying, tears running down her cheeks and turning her cheeks red. Penny didn't really know why she was crying. She knew--she  _ knew--  _ that she was dangerous and that people had the right to fear her, had the right to try and protect themselves, but it scared her too. Scared her how much people hated her, wanted her to have to obey different laws than them because  _ she  _ was different.

May enveloped her in a hug, rocking her and rubbing her back as she cried, and Penny didn't understand. May knew who she was,  _ what  _ she was? Why was she comforting her? Why wasn't she afraid to touch or take care of her? To live in the same house as someone that could kill her without a second thought?

Penny cried for a while, she wasn't sure how long, but she never managed to actually tell May what had happened, or even why she was crying (though she didn't 100% know herself). She silently thanked her aunt for how patient she was, allowing for Penny to have a freak out and then immediately get to chill out in her room and get ready for bed, taking a long, scalding shower that she hoped would melt her anxieties away.

It was as she was getting sprayed by the hot water that May called Mr. Stark.

She'd been about to turn it off and step out when she'd heard the phone ring, pausing as she listened to it and then stopping herself from leaving the shower when Mr. Stark answered, "Stark."

"Hey, Tony," May responded.

"Oh, hello, Mrs. Parker!" Mr. Stark said, surprise and worry leaking into his greeting, "What kind of call is this? 'Cause I'm gonna need some coffee if you're gonna start yelling."

"No, no yelling. I'm sorry it's so late, but I was actually calling to ask about Penny."

"What about her?"

"Has she seemed... _ off  _ to you? She's been a bit weird all weekend, and she came home looking like she'd been chased before absolutely breaking down."

May, no,  _ why.  _ Why did she have to drag Mr. Stark into her weird anxiety problems??? Penny scrubbed at her hair harder, letting her face get hit with the harsh spray of the water, but continued to listen to the conversation.

"Broke down? Is she okay?" Mr. Stark asked, his voice beyond worried, making her pause. Why was he so worried?

"She's a bit better now, but have you noticed anything?"

"Yeah, actually, I meant to call you about it. She definitely didn't talk as much during lab yesterday, and she seemed kinda down. Do you know what's going on?"

"I don't have a clue, she won't tell me what's wrong, or even if anything is. Would you talk to her?"

"I don't think I'll get much farther than you, May," Mr. Stark responded humbly, "But I'll try tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good."

"Good. Good night, Mrs. Parker."

"Good night, Tony."

And with that, the conversation ended, the small hum of the phone hanging up was followed by a small sigh.

_ Great.  _


	2. The Courtyard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay, last one!!

"Penny, you have an incoming call from Mr. Stark," Karen alerted her around 4:00 during patrol. Her heart felt like it skipped a beat. Despite the fact that she'd been thinking about it all day throughout school, she had no idea what she was going to tell Mr. Stark. He wasn't easily fooled. She'd even considered skipping patrol so that she wouldn't have to answer him through the suit, but the man was relentless and she knew he'd find an answer either way. Even if it meant coming all the way from the compound to her apartment just so she couldn't avoid him.

"Um, okay, accept," she mumbled, landing on the side of a building. Swinging during a call wasn't always a good mixture, as she'd found out. Mr. Stark's face popped up on her mask-screen, and it looked as though he was calling her from the car, and if his suit was anything to go by, he was likely busy today.

"Hey, kid."

"Hey, Mr. Stark! What's up?" she greeted chirpily.

"Just checking in, seeing if ya felt any better since Friday."

"I felt fine on Friday, Mr. Stark. And I feel fine now too."

He hummed, "How's patrol?

"It's been good, uh, I got a really big pretzel. Like, absolutely  _ huge,  _ and it was so nice of the man to give it to me for free, I mean, it was bigger than my head!"

"That's nice, kid, and how about school?"

"I mean, it's school. How great can it be?" she asked.

"Okay, so what's wrong at school?"

"Nothing's wrong at school!" she protested, her voice getting higher.  _ Fuck. _

"Really, 'cause Happy said you were acting weird when he picked you up on Friday--"

"--Snitch--"

"--and I got a call from May that you were freaking out after you walked home from school yesterday. So what's happening?"

"Nothing!" she protested again, but Mr. Stark didn't respond for a few seconds, letting her stew and break until it came spilling out, "Nothing  _ really.  _ Just, uh, some kids have been kinda mean lately, but it's not that big of a deal."

"Hmm, seems like a bit of a big deal to me. I take people bothering my intern  _ very  _ personally."

She smiled a little at that, "It's nothing I can't handle, Mr. Stark."

He continued to interrogate her for almost fifteen minutes, and while he definitely still seemed suspicious when he hung up he still didn't know what was bothering her, so she'd put it down as a win in her book of deceiving her mentor. Probably not a great thing to have a book for, but still. She patrolled the rest of the day and kept up her regular patrols the rest of the week, no matter how little sleep she got, which wasn't a lot.

Every night she went to bed the words seemed to echo in her ears. Angry voices and angry stares, angry that she existed unchecked. It bothered her most of the day, but the moment she laid down in bed, in the darkness of her room, the fear tripled and the nightmares stayed. So, between Monday and Friday she'd say she'd gotten maybe fifteen collective hours of sleep the whole week, which wasn't great.

Luckily, they didn't stay on the topic in class for more than a couple of days, which meant Thursday and Friday were spent on the topic of new tariffs, which nobody really cared about, herself included. MJ seemed a bit more reclusive, not that she'd been outgoing to begin with, but now instead of constantly reading or drawing she was furiously scribbling in a notebook. When asked about it she only ever responded with a forcefully muttered, "It's for Debateathon."

Penny had almost forgotten about the Debateathon that Michelle had been forced to partake in, too distracted by her own problems. She wondered how her crush was doing on that, if she was struggling with finding points for something she so strongly hated, then she immediately scoffed at herself. MJ was smart enough to take over the world, she could 100% come up with points for a topic she disagreed with no problem. She was almost curious what her captain would come up with, but going to the debate on Saturday seemed like a bad idea since she always felt on the verge of crying from the lack of sleep. Until Friday that was.

The teen had gone through the entire day and had just finished up decathlon, packing up her notes and book into her bag. Ned was sick, so she'd been by herself as the team all filtered out through the doors, except MJ, who kept glancing back at her. Penny felt butterflies flutter in her stomach and her face turn a little redder at every glance until she was finally ready to go, a bit dismayed to see the door swinging behind the last student to leave. She'd love to hang out with MJ, and she jumped at every opportunity to hang out with her crush, but she was so tired and she'd never been especially great with secrets. The prospect of something slipping were high.

"Hey, loser," Michelle said before she could escape out of the theater room where practice had been held.

"I--um, hey, hi, MJ. What's--what's up?" she stuttered, her voice squeaky. MJ's eyebrow raised the slightest bit.  _ Shit. _

"Okay, you're being weird," MJ commented.

"No, I'm not. I'm not being--being weird."

"Sure, anyway--" Penny nearly sighed in relief as she changed the topic, "--you know the Debateathon is tomorrow, right? At eleven?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah. Good luck by the way, I'm sure you've come up with an amazing argument."

MJ paused for a moment, but it was so quick and so subtle she barely noticed, "Yeah, um, thanks. You should come."

Penny blinked, "I should--you want me to come?"

"Yeah, uh, you can bring Ned too if you want."

"So, ah, you said eleven, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Penny agreed, waving at MJ as she walked out the door, smiling probably a little too broadly. The dopey grin lingered for a few seconds after MJ disappeared from sight before dropping.

She was going to have to listen to MJ talk about why mutants were dangerous. Why  _ she  _ was dangerous. A knot tangled itself in her stomach as she thought about it. That was going to be awful, and if she wanted to  _ not  _ cry tomorrow in front of everyone, she'd have to actually get some sleep tonight to stand a chance. Still, Penny knew she wasn't going to enjoy it, but MJ had  _ invited  _ her! That had never happened before!! Maybe she actually liked her back. Maybe...

Well, if she did, tomorrow would be totally worth it.

She wasn't sure if today would be totally worth it.

First of all, Penny had most definitely not gotten the sleep she'd told herself she needed. In her defense, she'd  _ tried.  _ She'd tried really hard, making tea and a heating pad and even not looking at her phone an hour before bed, which had been a pain. And still, she hadn't really slept. It had taken her what felt like hours to fall asleep only to randomly wake back up at 2 o'clock and not fall asleep again until 6:00. After that she woke up at 8:00 and decided she might as well start the day.

Second of all, she'd burned her toast and it had been the last slice of bread, so that had been a great start to an already  _ perfect day.  _ May had also been gone once she'd woken up, but that hadn't bothered her, since her aunt had told her that she'd be gone for an early shift at the hospital, but it also meant that Penny was going alone. Michelle had said she could bring Ned, but her friend had been dragged away for some family thing, so she was walking into the school alone.

She clutched the purse she'd taken with her closer to her side as she nervously glanced around, feeling like an impostor in the sparse crowd that had showed up for the debate. There were a few other kids from school, a couple of elementary and middle schoolers clearly dragged along by their parents, but it was a pretty small crowd that thinned out even more as she went inside.

The school had never felt more unfriendly than it did today. The hallways were cold, the nonexistent stares of people judging and hating her, every step feeling too small and too large at the same time. She managed to get through the halls and into the theater without having a panic attack, looking out over the meager crowd filling up the seats. Slightly interested to find a cameraman set up inside, and she guessed that the news really had to be low for a local newspaper to be reporting on a high school debate.

Penny shrugged it off, looking towards the stage. There were two tables set up, each with four chairs, as well as a whiteboard in the back, she guessed for helping to prove points. She didn't really know, she'd never been to a debate before.

The teen looked around for a place to sit, there were plenty of seats, but she didn't particularly want to be near anybody. Maybe somewhere near the middle, so that MJ could see that she'd came, though she didn't want to distract her and--

"Excuse me," a woman behind her said, and Penny almost leaped to get out of the way in surprise, but forced herself to move like a normal human being, "Sorry, I'm just trying to get to that row."

"Oh, uh, no problem, ma'am," Penny responded, peering at the woman but trying to make it look like she wasn't staring. She looked familiar somehow...

"Who're you here for?" the woman asked.

"Hmm?"

"I just don't see a lot of other teens here? Do you have a sibling debating or something?"

"Oh. Ah, no, my friend invited me to come watch, and she was forced to do it by our teacher so I thought I might as well suffer with her."

The woman smiled wryly, "Ah, you mean Michelle."

Penny blinked.  _ Ohhhhh,  _ duh! This was MJ's mom! For some reason, Penny had never really pictured MJ having a mom. She'd thought briefly about meeting her parents if they ever went on a date or anything (especially after her disastrous Homecoming), but her crush was so reclusive and barely ever talked about herself that the idea had almost been strange.

Also,  _ shit.  _ She was talking to her crush's mom and she didn't know  _ anything  _ about her. Not even her fucking name.

"Um, yep, yeah," Penny confirmed after a moment, rushing to answer after the tense moment of silence, sticking her hand out for the woman to shake, "Ah, I'm, Penny. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Dora, it's nice to meet you, Penny. MJ talks about you all the time."

Penny blushed fiercely, "She--she does?"

"Yep! She's always going on about her star decathlon player and the girl who has the Stark Internship and how smart you are. She did mention she'd invited you, so I'm glad we ran into each other."

Could faces be this red? Or this warm? Was it possible? What about her hands? Why were they so sweaty? It'd been two minutes! Her heart felt like it was going to beat itself out of her chest and that she was going to melt from embarrassment. But Dora just smiled in that same knowing way that MJ did. Oh God.

"Would you like to sit together?" the woman offered, gesturing to the row beside them.

Well, this could only go horribly, "Sure, uh yeah, yeah."

Dora went in first, and the two of them sat in the middle row together rather awkwardly as they waited for the debate to start, which it didn't. For another  _ fifteen minutes.  _ It was pure agony. Not because Dora was mean or anything, but because Penny already couldn't interact with people normally, especially not when she was sleep deprived and said person was her crush's mom whom she'd never met before. It was pretty exhausting to keep the conversation going, but they managed to talk pretty easily until it finally started.

The two teams filed out onto the stage, everyone taking their seats. She spotted MJ immediately, her long hair pulled up into a tight ponytail and her usual surly expression interrupted by a glint in her eyes. Penny shuffled in her seat, nervous as Principal Morita got up on stage between the two teams, a forced smile on his face as he began introducing himself.

"Good morning, everyone!" he greeted in true teacher fashion, "It's so great to see you all here today. If you don't already know, I'm Principal Morita, and today we'll be doing a debate between Team 1," he gestured to them and there was a smattering of applause, "and Team 2." Once again there was applause, but Penny found herself clapping just a little louder this time, "There will be multiple debates today as each team tries to rack up points. Me, Mr. Harrison, and Mrs. Wilson will all be the judges today. So let's give them a round of applause and then we'll start with our first topic...gun control!"

And then suddenly questions and points and references were being thrown across the room, every remark more biting and more well constructed than the last. It was dizzying to keep up with, and Penny almost wished they'd just start with the mutant debate so she could have a bad time and get it over with so she could go home and have her little meltdown at home.

After  _ three  _ debates, each taking fifteen minutes with a small break in between, they finally got to the one she'd been dreading. She shifted in her seat, trying not to squirm, and swallowed nervously. If she cried in front of MJ's mom she'd never be able to live it down, it'd keep her up at night. Well, more than she already was.

"Now," Principal Morita started, "Our final debate will be held on the new Mutant Registration Act. Team 1 will be arguing  _ against  _ it, and Team 2 will be arguing  _ for  _ it. Team 2 will start."

A boy at MJ's table stood up, "The Mutant Registration Act is a protective act meant to protect average citizens from dangerous individuals by restricting their ability to infiltrate regular spaces without being known and to allow authorities the right to enter residences and makes arrests without having to wait for approval. It keeps places safer and people safer."

Penny's breathing was dangerously low as a girl on Team 1 stood up in response, the boy who had spoken first sitting down, "I disagree. The Mutant Registration Act is restrictive and dehumanizing. It doesn't allow for mutants to be treated as proper civilians, who are protected to the right to due process under the Fourth Amendment. And it doesn't make anything safer. It allows for a vulnerable group to be judged openly and taken advantage of."

This time MJ stood up, slowly and confidently, and Penny felt her breath catch as MJ looked out across the room, making eye contact with the girl, "I agree. And I do not agree with this debate. We should not be discussing whether people are people or not, because that has never worked well in history, and in the end, we are all human. The fact that the school even allowed for this to be a debate, when it claims to be an open and welcoming environment, is more than disappointing. We don't know the likelihood of a powered person going to this school, and even if we did, they are entitled to their privacy and to not have to face this kind of discrimination."

An oppressive silence filled the air, filled only the soft patter of MJ's shoes as she got out of her chair and walked off of the stage, stepping down into the audience and down the aisles until she'd left, the doors swinging shut behind her.

Penny gaped, open mouthed, at where her crush had disappeared. What--how-- _ why???  _ She didn't understand. She didn't understand why MJ had done that, had stood up and told everyone that they were idiots like it was no big deal and then walked out. The amount of courage...it was fucking badass.

"That's my MJ," Dora said wistfully from beside her, shaking her head and smiling slightly, "I had a feeling she would do something like this."

"I--I had no idea," Penny stuttered, feeling kind of sick.

"Yeah, I bet she surprised a lot of people."

"Yeah... Um, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she excused, getting up from her seat and trying to make it look like she wasn't rushing to the door, though anyway who saw her could tell her she failed miserably.

When she rushed through the doors the first thing she could tell was that MJ wasn't there. She swung her head around, turning in a circle in an attempt to locate her crush, but was unsuccessful. Where was she? ...Maybe her hearing could find her?

Penny cast out her ears, searching through the school for the one heartbeat she was looking for. She ignored the sound coming from inside the theater where Principal Morita was stammering and clearly trying to cover up after what had just happened, and instead focused on heartbeats outside of their general area.

She tried for about a minute, thinking that she'd waited too long and that MJ was already long gone, when she heard a heartbeat outside. It was a good couple hundred feet away in the direction of the courtyard, so Penny decided she'd start there in search of her crush.

She headed out the front doors, blinking at the harsh sunlight, and made her way around the front, cutting through a couple of shortcuts to get to the courtyard. MJ was sitting there on a bench, angrily scribbling in her sketchbook as the wind blew, whipping the hair around her face that the girl kept pushing behind her ear. The teen let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her, which she unfortunately heard.

MJ's head whipped around to glare at her, making her freeze, but the anger softened immediately as recognition shot across her face. She watched as her captain reluctantly closed her sketchbook, and Penny took that as a sign to nervously walk over and sit beside her. The girl didn't move except to shift her knee, allowing Penny space to sit.

"Um, that was...wow. That was really cool," Penny began awkwardly, nervously pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, "I wasn't--I wasn't expecting that."

"Well, someone had to say it."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess."

"I'm surprised it wasn't you."

Penny froze under her piercing glare, willing her hair to shield her, though it did little to help, "Why--why would it be me?"

"Probably because you're Spider-Woman."

She felt like she'd been slapped in the face, "No--no I'm not."

"Uh, yeah you are. Washington? Homecoming? The 'Stark Internship?' I'm not as blind as everyone else here."

Penny stayed silent for probably a solid minute before muttering, "Fuck. Does anyone else--"

"Wait so you're actually Spider-Woman?" MJ demanded, her face uncharacteristically giddy, "You actually mean it? 'Cause I was only like, sixty percent sure--"

"What do you  _ mean  _ you were only  _ sixty percent sure?"  _ she said, her voice high and breathy, "You said you knew!"

"I only kinda knew, but you confirmed it."

"Oh my, God," Penny muttered, mortified, covering her bright red face with her hands, "It was a trap. You tricked me!"

"Yeah, uh, sorry. But I won't tell anyone, promise."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you see how they treat people like you in there. I'm not an idiot."

"...Thanks," Penny said, but something still bit at her. Was  _ this  _ why MJ had always been watching her, had sat at their lunch table and been friends with them. Because she thought she was a superhero, "Um, so, you were watching me because--because you thought I was Spider-Woman?"

She hesitated, but her voice was cool and steady when she said, "Yeah."

"...Oh.

There were a few moments of unbroke, tense silence, where Penny could feel her heart racing in embarrassment and tears started to burn in her eyes. How could she have been so dumb? Why would anyone--she wasn't even sure if MJ liked girls! Why had she just assumed that maybe--

"No," MJ whispered, then cleared her throat, and Penny felt her heart jump as her crush's fingers inched nearer, "Um, I kinda...like you. Like,  _ like like  _ you. Ugh, I sound like a ten year-old--but you don't have to uh, like me back or whatever. I won't--I won't be hurt."

Nothing had  _ ever  _ prepared Penny for watching MJ be reduced to a blushing, stuttering mess. It was almost scary.

"I like you too," she murmured, gulping and then pressing her hand into MJ's. It felt like crossing the grand canyon, the amount of effort it took and how badly her heart was racing.

And that was how she had her first kiss, there on the bench outside of school on a windy Saturday. It was awkward...and it was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> next chapter will be out tomorrow!!!


End file.
